Dancing Shadows

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Ellowyn's POV-
   By the time we have to go back to school on Monday, Katsuki is feeling well again. Luckily, it seems that whatever he had wasn't contagious because no one else in the dorms got sick, but we did spend Sunday cleaning the building, just in case.

   I resist the urge to look back at Katsuki now that we are sitting in class, waiting for Aizawa to arrive. It's hard for me not to look at him now that I seen him naked. I mean, I was honest when I told him that I hadn't seen anything, but almost doing so had changed something for me. My imagination was running wild.

   As a result, I had my first wet dream last night. I feel hot and lightheaded as I'm reminded of the vivid fantasy. We were in the shower and we were wet and he was on his knees and my fingers were laced through his hair and I was pushing his face against my-

   I'm snapped out of my thoughts by none other than Aizawa finally entering class with All Might. "Alright class, today we are reviewing how to assist victims. You will each be put into fabricated emergency scenarios with actors pretending to be victims. Your objective will be to identify the help the victim needs and help them get it. Now, go put on your hero costumes."

...

   By random chance, Mina's name is pulled first. In her situation, she finds someone collapsed in the street. They are struggling to breathe, so she calls 911 and after a few minutes she finds out that they are suffering an allergic reaction. She administers aid using an EpiPen she finds on them and they recover without complications.

   Over and over and over again people are faced with different situations. Midoriya helps a kid shot in a drive-by, Todoroki saves a man from drowning, Kirishima rescues a hostage, and then it's Katsuki's turn.

   In his scenario, he watches a robber use a gun to steal a handbag from an old lady. He actually does incredibly well. He makes sure to to check that the woman isn't hurt and even pulls her out of the range of any stray bullets before chasing down the robber and getting her purse back.

   After quite a few more of my classmates go, it's finally my turn. I look around the training room to try and see what type of situation I'm in. I'm waking down the street. When I pass under a bridge, I pass by a little girl. She can't be any older than ten and is trembling. She must be the victim in this scenario. I look around but I don't see anyone, so I kneel down beside her.

   "Hey there, I'm Erebus. What's your name?"

   She mumbles. "I'm Kasumi."

   I take notice of the fact that she didn't give me her last name, but decide not to push it. I don't want to scare her away. "Nice to meet you, Kasumi. I can see that you're bleeding. Is it okay if I take you to the hospital so a doctor can help you?"

   She quickly shakes her head and shouts, "No!"

   "Okay, okay. We don't have to go, but you are hurt, right?" She nods. "Well, it must be painful. Is it okay if I help you?"

   She hesitates, before nodding once again. I run into a store nearby to grab a first aid kit before coming back. I kneel down in front of her once again and begin to analyze her injuries. She has a black eye, her lip is busted, her nose is broken, and she has a cut above her eye brow. Knowing I can't really treat anything else without going to a doctor, I start by cleaning the cut. I take out a wipe and begin to clean the fresh blood as I ask her, "Why don't you want to go to the hospital?"

   "They'll just send me back."

   "Send you back where?"

   "Back to my parents. My dad does this all the time and my mom used to take me to the hospital when it got really bad, but they would send me back to them every time."

   "Why didn't your mom take you this time?" I ask as I disinfect the cut.

   "She's out of town, so it's just me right now."

   "I'm so sorry. That must be very scary." I say as I apply a bandaid to the cut. It's luckily not very deep, so it'll be fine.

   She nods and says, "It was okay at first, but then things got worse."

   "Worse? How so?"

   She hesitates again, but I let her take her time. Eventually her eyes fill with tears as she quietly tells me, "He came into my room last night and he...he touched me."

   I feel like I've been punched in the stomach. All of a sudden, I'm fourteen again and I'm suffocating in a secret that's no longer a secret and I feel like ripping off my own skin so that I might be able to finally feel clean.

   I'm only pulled back down the reality when Kasumi grabs my hands. I look back down at her to see that she's crying and tell her, "I understand why you don't want to go back, but you need to go to the hospital. You're really hurt, and I can't fix everything here."

   She shakes her head and says, "They'll send me back to him."

   "No, I won't let them. I'll go with you and make sure the police arrest him. I'll protect you, I promise. I'll stay by your side, okay?"

   Kasumi says, "Okay, I trust you."

   My eyes well up with tears as I realize that in this moment I'm just learning how to be the hero I needed all those years ago. I don't even realize that the scene has ended until I notice that I'm all alone. Aizawa opens the training room door and calls my name. My legs feel like jelly as I slowly stand up and walk over to the door. I feel disconnected as I step outside of the room and Aizawa begins to speak with me.

   "Ellowyn, I'm incredibly sorry. There were dozens of scenarios designed and each of them were randomly assigned, so I didn't even think of the possibility that a student could be matched up with a triggering scenario. I didn't even remember what you've been through until the end of the exercise. I apologize. Do you need to see recovery girl?"

   I shake my head, trying to ground myself. I'm thankful that he doesn't touch me, and I'm especially thankful for his apology and explanation. "I'm okay. I think I just need a break."

   He nods. "It's lunch time now. Let me know if you need more time and I'll write you a note for your next class." He politely leaves me to try and calm down in the hallway.

   I make my way outside of the school, needing air. I sit down under a tree and try to get my lungs to function normally again. Im so freaked out I can't breathe. I keep reliving the same moment over and over again in my head.

...

   "Mr. and Mrs. Sallow, with all due respect, we don't tolerate violence at this school, much less use of such a deadly quirk on another student. Zachary claims she attacked him because video of them together was leaked."

   "Have you even asked for her side of the story?"

   "Well, Zachary is someone the school trusts. He's a star football player and a straight A student with a clean record."

   My dad kneels down in front of me. I avoid his gaze as I feel shame settle in the bottom of my stomach. He takes me hands in mine and asks, "What happened, El?"

   "I got scared." I tell him. I feel so empty. It hurts me to have him look at me like that.

   "Why?"

   "Because...because he raped me."